"An elusive black bear who had its head stuck in a pickle jar for the last two weeks is no longer in a pickle, wildlife officials confirm.

Conservation officers near Thunder Bay, Ont., say an empty jar found on the shores of Lake Superior is the same jar the curious animal had been struggling with. Officials say the jar, which was found with a large clump of black fur inside, is the same style, size and shape as the jar seen on the bear's head in a photo taken this week.

The jar has scratches on it, and a hole consistent with a claw mark, officials say. It was found about a kilometer away from where the bear was last spotted.

“I'm hoping that he pulled it off. The worst would be that he tried to swim and the jug would fill up with water, and he'd drown,” Johnston said.

“I don't expect we'll hear from mister bear again.” It's a storybook happy ending that some liken to the tale of A.A. Milne's Winnie the Pooh, who also got his head stuck in a jar while trying to slurp up the last drop of honey. A local resident snapped a photo of the black bear and pickle jar Tuesday, showing the bear had lost a significant amount of weight. The jar prevented the animal from eating or drinking, and some were worried it could die.

Some residents also criticized the ministry's response and wanted officials to step up their search. Ray Blais, a caretaker at a dump in Hurkett, Ont., where the curious bear is believed to have found the jar, said he saw the bear on July 11. He said he saw officials come within 15 meters of the animal, but they missed shooting it with a tranquilizer dart.

“They said they took a shot at it and missed it, but why did they leave the bear in that position? Why didn't they stay around to try to collar it?” Blais said. Officials struggled to keep up with the bear because it was last seen in a heavily wooded area, Johnston said. “It's completely forested, so you're trying to find a bear that doesn't want to be seen and will run away from you in dense bush,” he said. “We were relying on the public to call and give us updates.”

The bear was last seen on Lambert Island, some 40 kilometers east of Thunder Bay. Officials had set a trap there, but said they feared the bear would not be able to smell the meat.

In July 2008, officials in Minnesota were forced to shoot and kill a bear with a jar stuck on its head for six days. Kowalski said the ministry hopes this bear will avoid that fate." -

Der Bär, seine Mutter und 2 weitere Geschwister waren in der Gegend um Weirsdale innerhalb des Ocala National Forest bekannt dafür häufig Mülltonnen abzusuchen. Die Biologen hatten fast schon die Hoffnung aufgegeben, den Bären zu finden, doch dann hatten sie Glück. Die schützende Mutter wurde mit einem Betäubungsgewehr 'beruhigt' und bald war der Bär aus dem Glas befreit. Again a black bear got his head stuck in a plastic jar which could be removed by a biologist in Florida after 10 long days for the bear, In this case a little 6 month cub who could not drink or eat during these 10-days and according to the biologist, the cub was just days away from dying.The bear, his mother and 2 other siblings were known to frequently visit trash cans in and around Weirsdale, located within Ocala National Forest. Biologists had given up hope of finding this bear after not being able to track its whereabouts but just as they had given up hope they found the bear. The protective mother was calmed using a tranquilizer gun and soon the bear was freed from the jar. The bear has been named 'Jarhead'; not surprising at all.

Her birth was an unlikely event to start with. Siri was born a year ago this week to a 56-year-old chimp named Susie who really wasn't supposed to be pregnant in the first place.

Susie had been on birth control for years; like all chimps in accredited zoos, she was put on birth control for life at age 40. But they took her off it because veterinarians worried that at her old age, her long-term birth control use might put her at a higher risk for heart attack or stroke, said Scott Shoemaker, director of the Sunset Zoo in Manhattan, Kansas. Surely, everyone thought, a chimp that old wouldn't get pregnant.

“Obviously, she got pregnant,” Shoemaker said. “She was not post-reproductive. But Susie and her pregnancy were healthy. She gave birth among the other chimpanzees at the zoo, and she cared for and nursed her baby, Siri.

But as the months went by, Siri wasn't growing, Shoemaker said. Zookeepers were worried. They asked other chimp experts for advice. In April, Siri and Susie were given a battery of tests. It turns out, Susie wasn't producing enough milk, and the milk she was offering Siri didn't have the nutrients that the baby chimp needed.

The first choice would be to leave Siri with her mother, said Steve Ross, chairman of the chimpanzee Species Survival Plan, a nationwide breeding strategy designed to keep the chimp population healthy and genetically diverse.But Susie couldn't care for Siri, even though she was trying. In human terms, Susie would be about 100 years old, he said.

Siri at 2 months, still looking well, climbing about the indoor section of the chimpanzee exhibit at the Sunset Zoo on the day her name was proposed for a voting contest, Siri means Secret in SuaheliPhoto:Matt Binten

Siri would need a surrogate mother, a move that happens only once every few years, Ross said.Three zoos nationwide had chimps that could fill the surrogate role, including Oklahoma City, Ross said. After much discussion and debate, the decision was made to move Siri.“Oklahoma City really took a big leap forward by saying they would be able to take on this role,” Ross said.

Siri weighed 3½ pounds when she arrived at the Oklahoma City Zoo on April 20. At 8 months old, Siri weighed as much as a newborn. “There was severe malnutrition,” D'Agostino said. “The brain suffers from that.”

For about six weeks, Siri had a feeding tube taped to her head
that went through her nose and into her stomach.
Photo:Oklahoma City Zoo

Siri was introduced to the other chimps through a fence-like mesh. Kito, a 24-year-old female, was the most interested. Three years ago, Kito had wanted to be a surrogate mother to a chimpanzee named Zoe, when the chimp's mother died suddenly during childbirth. But another female chimp had already bonded with the baby. So the appearance of Siri was especially exciting. ... Kito sat at the mesh, anxiously adoring the little chimp. They touched and looked at one another. Siri stretched out her arm, and Kito pulled. “Kito wanted her and just pulled,” Davis said. “Her arm was just so small. It just couldn't take it. Kito did not want that to happen.”Siri's forearm was destroyed.Kito retreated out of confusion and fear, Davis said. Zoo staff whisked her to the zoo's veterinary hospital and called in an orthopedic surgeon.Then Siri's heart stopped beating. Veterinarians revived her with CPR. Her heart stopped again. She was revived again.Zoo staff talked about whether it was all too much. If she survived, would it be a life worth living? Would she make it? Everybody said, ‘Let's let Siri decide,'” said Davis. “It was amazing that she even came back twice. This chimp really wanted to live.”

Siri's arm was amputated above the elbow successfully, and once again, the chimp surprised everyone around her. She went right back to eating and didn't give her shortened arm a second thought. Siri grew strong and eventually was ready to go in with other chimps without the fence separation.

Kito — the one who crushed her arm accidentally — took her under her wing immediately. Another adult chimp, Mwami, doted on her, too. Eventually the zoo's young chimp, Zoe, was introduced.The chimps don't mind her missing arm one bit, Davis said. They play with it, groom it and mouth it. One chimp even shakes it like a hand.

Her adopted mother is especially kind. “Kito is so good about knowing when Siri needs the extra support,” Davis said. Kito allows Siri to ride high up on her neck, so Siri can use her shorter arm to wrap around her mother's neck.The other chimps will be introduced one by one, Davis said.

Siri could come out on public display in the next couple of weeks depending on her health and the weather, Davis said.She's healthy and growing steadily, said D'Agostino, the veterinarian. Vets and keepers still keep a close eye on her to make sure she's going in the right direction.“I think she'll be normal. She'll just be small,” D'Agostino said. “She's a tough little chimp.”

And here a photo which I cherish a lot, Susie nursing Siri about 10 days after birth, taken by Michael Marish who works at Sunset Zoo. After Siri had to be separated from Susie, she mourned a lot, even Julian, the father and the rest of the group (currently 1 male, 3 females and a young chimp girl of 3 years) had been rather upset for a while. In the meantime everything is back to normal, and Susie is doing fine even at 57. She still takes part in enrichment activities as painting. She is the 3rd oldest chimp in all of the AZA Zoo's and the oldest on record to give birth to a live healthy baby!

Baby chimps ride on their mother's back until they are weaned, usually around when they are age 3. However, they typically do not leave their mothers until they are around 10 years old. Chimpanzees can live for 45-60 years.

Last week on Wednesday Troll left Tiergarten Berlin and moved to Zoo Berlin. No anesthesia was needed for the transport, after a little while of leaving one of his hind legs outside of the crate, he dared to get in completely...and just after 2 days of getting used to his new surrounding, he was presented on Friday for the first time alone in his new home, the ladies were kept in the smaller enclosure.

Contrary to other male lions who have often to be kept separately
from their little ones and in particular from the cubs of another litter ...

On Thursday something happened at the zoo which should never had happened, due to human error, a keeper opened the wrong shutter, Paul got access to the cage where the little ones Iringa and Bomani had been, and as male lions do in the wild, he killed them by biting them dead. It is a tragic and sad story, Paul can't be blamed, he instinctively took advantage of the situation.

Beside, Paul is known for his temper when it comes to the ladies, his own offspring Max & Moritz (after himself in 1998 the first lion offspring at Zoo Berlin) had to be euthanised due to genetically caused disorders and illnesses when they were about one year old, his lady Amira has been put on the pill ever since. Jasira, Amira's sister gave birth last year on 26 August to Nathan & Miron who had to be hand-raised as she too didn't care sufficiently for her young.

Who wants to lay hands on the original K-files, all coming in the typical outpost outfit pdf and usually including photos found within the Aussendienstnetz, just click on the file covers, download starts after filling in the 3 letter code.Attention: please click the FREE download option and not Premium as this will cost you then. We apologize for any inconvenience, unfortuantely we can't stop the ads!